Fabrication of anti-friction bearing units



Dec. 19, 1961 T. E. SPENCE FABRICATION OF ANTI-FRICTION BEARING UNITSOriginal Filed July 17, 1957 1 FI a- INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

' DAL-Z 7770112355 S mm, BY 62M; 62M! United States Patent 3,013,327FABRICATION OF 1%JN'IIRICTI0N BEARING 4 Claims. (Cl. 29-148.4)

This application is'a continuation of my pending application Serial No.672,339, filed July 17, 1957, entitled Fabrication of Anti-FrictionBearing Units, which has been abandoned.

This invention relates to methods of fabricating antifriction bearingunits. More particularly, it is concerned with the production ofanti-friction bearing units of the type wherein a full complement ofrolling elements such as balls is interposed between an internallygrooved outer race component and an externally grooved inner racecomponent.

Hereto-fore, various methods have been resorted to in the fabrication ofbearing units of the kind referred to, all of which methods were more orless involved and added very considerably to production costs.

In One of these prior art methods, the outer race component of the unitWas formed by two complemental halves which met in the medial plane ofthe bearing and jointly provided an internal groove for the rollingelements, while the inner race component was integrally formed with anexternal peripheral race groove for the rolling elements. Assembling wasaccomplished by placing the inner race component'into the hollow of oneof the half sections of the outer race component, depositing a fullcomplement of rolling elements into the exposed annular space, thenapplying the other half section of the outer race component over theballs, and finally applying a band about the assemblage and fianging theband peripherally over the two sections of the outer race component topermanently unite them.

In another method heretofore extensively practiced, the outer and innerrace components were both integrally formed and provided respectivelywtih complemental notches which jointly afforded a lateral opening tothe raceways, through which opening the rolling elements weresuccessively inserted.

In another prior art method, the outer race component was made integral,and the inner race component formed in two complemental half sections,assembling being afiected by placing one of such half sections withinthe outer race component, then introducing the rolling elements into theannular space between the two components, then applying the other halfsection of the inner race component, then inserting either a solid orhollow rivet through the assemblage, and finally heading or flanging theends of the rivet over the outer faces of the half sections of the innerrace component.

In still another prior art procedure, the inner race component wasintegrally formed, and the outer race component was formed by twocomplemental semicircular half sections to meet in a diametral plane atright angles to the plane of the raceway. In assembling, the rollingelements were placed about the inner race component, the two halfsections of the outer component then brought up to surround said rollingelements, and a band was placed thereabout to hold said sectionstogether.

Obviously the fabrication of anti-friction bearing units by any of theabove prior art methods was expensive by reason of the necessity for themultipartite construction of either the outer or inner race componentsor the notching of them, and also from the standpoint of labor costs inassembling the parts.

3,013,327 Patented Dec. 19, 19 61 My invention has for its chief aim toovercome the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art procedures in theproduction of anti-friction bearing units, through provision of a newmethod by which such units can be expeditiouslyfabricated more rapidlyand at much less expense both from the standpoints of material and laborcosts.

How this objective is realized in practice will appear from thefollowing description of the attached drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1-5 show sequential steps in the production of anti-frictionbearing unit of the ball type in one way in accordance with myinvention.

FIGS. 6-10 are views of an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to FIG. 1 of these illustrations, the outer racecomponent there shown and designated 1 is formed integrally, inaccordance with my invention, as a coned annulus with an internalcircumferential groove 2 having a cross-sectional contour which isrounded on a curvature somewhat larger than that of the balls. The innerrace component illustrated in FIG. 2 and designated 3 is fabricated inthis instance as ordinarily either as a solid cylindrical disk, or inthe form of a cylindrical annulus as exemplified, and is provided withan external circumferential groove 4 which is cross-sectionally roundedon a curvature substantially equal to that of the balls. To assemble theunit, the component 3 is introduced' partway into the hollow of thecomponent. 1 as in FIG. 3, and the balls 5 are then incidentallyinserted into the annular space between the two components from thelarge diameter end of the outer component 1. vThe inner component 3 andthe balls are thereupon released to drop until they rest on the bottomgroove ledge of the outer component 1 as shown in FIG. 4. The assemblageis next inserted, as shown in FIG. 5, into the flared mouth end of a dieblock 6 which has a bore 7 corresponding in diameter to that of thesmall end portion of the outer race component 1 of the bearing.

As the assemblage is forced down through the bore 7 of the die 6 by theplunger 8, cold forging takes place in which the large diameter end ofthe outer race component 1 is contracted to the diameter of the smallend and said component gradually converted to cylindrical form. Duringthis transition, the metal of the outer component 1 is caused to rollupwardly about and to close in upon the balls 5, its cross-section beingincidentally changed somewhat by enforced flow of the metal and thecross-sectional curvature of its groove made to conform accurately tothe curvature of the balls without binding upon them, and the innerraceway 3 gradually receding downward all the while until it finallyassumes a coplanar relationship with the balls in the finished bearingas shown in broken lines in FIG. 5. By the above procedure it will beseen that I have made possible rapid and economic production of ballbearings in quantity of which both the inner and outer racewaycomponents are deep grooved for capacity to positively retain the ballswith assurance against undue axial play as between said components.

With reference now to the alternative embodiment of the invention shownin FIGS. 6l0, the outer race component 10 (FIG. 6) is conically flaredoutwardly as at 16 from the medial plane thereof, the lower half thereofbeing cylindrical. The cross-sectional contour of the lower half of theraceway 2c of the component 1c is rounded on a curvature substantiallyequal to that of the balls, while the cross-sectional contour of theraceway in the flared upper half of said component is rounded on acurvature somewhat larger than that of the balls. The inner racecomponent 3c ('FIG. 7) is identical with that of FIG. 2, i.e., it iscylindrical in form and has a peripheral groove 4c of which thecross-sectional curvature corresponds substantially to that of theballs. The manner of assembling the parts (FIGS. 8 and 9) is identicalwith that described in connection with FIGS. 3 and 4. The assemblage isplaced, as shown in FIG. 10, into the fiared mouth of the bore 7c of adie block 6!: (identical with the die block of FIG. and forced down intosaid block with incidental conversion of the component 10 to cylindricalconfiguration to close in upon the balls 5c as indicated in broken linesin FIG. 10. To facilitate inward displacement of the metal of the flaredportion 16 of the outer race component 1c in this case, said componentis provided with a shallow narrow peripheral medially located groove asat 17.

In both instances, it is to be understood that the component subjectedto die action is fashioned from metal of a hardness which will withstandthe swaging without fracture.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes, I haveillustrated and described the best forms of embodiments of my inventionnow known to me it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in the form of the apparatus described withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, as set forth inthe appended claims, and that in some cases certain features of myinvention may be used to advantage without a corresponding use of otherfeatures.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A method of fabricating a ball bearing, comprising, the steps offorming a cylindrical inner raceway component having an externalcircumferential groove concaved on a curvature substantially equal tothat of the balls; forming a coned annular outer raceway componenthaving an internal groove concaved on a curvature substantially largerthan that of the balls, the opening at the large end of the outerraceway component being of a size to permit insertion through it of theinner component together with a full complement of the balls until theballs come to rest upon the bottom ledge of the internal groove at thesmall diameter end of said outer component and the inner componentloosely rests on the balls; and finally compressing the large externaldiameter of the outer component to the external diameter of its smallend to close in upon the balls, with incidental re-shaping of itscross-section and changing of the cross-sectional curvature of itsgroove to conform to that of the balls.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the cross-section of theouter race component is reduced somewhat medially between the top andbottom faces of said component to facilitate the final step of themethod.

3. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the outer race componentis initially formed medially of its top and bottom faces with anexternal circumferential groove to facilitate the final step of themethod.

4. The invention according to claim 2, wherein the outer race componentis initially formed medially of its top and bottom faces with anexternal circumferential groove to facilitate the final step of themethod.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS881,471 Hoffman Mar. 10, 1908 1,048,758 Sultemeyer Dec. 31, 19121,080,169 Reed Dec. 2, 1913 1,419,521 Rockwell June 13, 1922 FOREIGNPATENTS 617,991 Great Britain Feb. 15, 1949 924,924 Germany Mar. 10,1955

